Explosive.



--:that-they' may igpitefire-damp as wel as i 1 coal-dust only wit U1 TED STATES oHRIs'rIA EMIL 'BI'CHEL,

QF M URG, "Gummy i E'XPLJOSIVEK I 1* Be it knownthat I, CHRISTIAIv Earrrl BICHEL, a. sub ect of the German Emperor,

'residing at Hamburg, in the=German Empire, have invented certain new and useful Improvements. in Explosives,' of which the following is a specification.

In manufacturing fire=damp-proof explosums and for enhancing the safety of the same there have been successfully employed saltsof am1noniun1,'such as ammonium oxalate,.amn1on1um acetate,'a1nmon1um sulfate, ammon um chlorid, and other similar salts.

- .These admixtures, however, do not answer s.

the desired purpose equally, and some of them exert an injurious efi ect upon the gchoke-damp, whereby part of the advantages that may be; secured in other respects are lost. Therefore it has been necessary to add a nltr'ate of a metal of the alkalis, such as nitrate of potassium or nitrate 0 sodium, to the aforesaid salts for the purpose of improving the GhOkG-jdtlllPS and'to successfr'illy effect the reduction of the heatevolved at explosion.- Very good results have been? obtained, 'for example, by ammonium chlorid and ni-- trate of' sodium, which lform sodium chlorid on decomposition and which,on the one hand, reduce'the amount of heat evolved by the detonation of'the explosive to such a de ree great difficulty, while, on the other-hand, they formno noxious or :other'gases whicli.'unpleasantly affect the breathing.

'I-have'observed'nthat owing to' the high temperatures of dissociation ammonium -"*chlorid and nitrate of sodium are converted into chlorid of sodium, said chlorid of sodium being vaporized and separated. Following this observation attempts have been made to obtain the same result by directly adding chlorids to the components of the explosives, and thereby reduce the temperature as well as to produce inert products of combustion.

These experiments have been successful, and they prove that sodium chlorid may ust as well be directly employed as salts that form sodium chlorid by double decomposition. To

decide upon which of these methods to use depends upon the mechanical structure of theexplosive, its specific gravity, its adaptability to'the blast-holes and cartridges, and other circumstances. Thus in cert ain cases it Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed July 6,1903.. Serial N". 164,453. r

may be advantageous to directly add chl rid of sodium to the explosive, while in other PatenteiDec; 725, 1 906.

cases; c'hloridf of ammonium an iii t'i'ate of referably us'ed.- 1 It has been stated by officialiconnnissions in countries 'where'fiery mines are worked that all explosives when fired in mixtures of pit-gas or coal-dust are liable to'ignite this mixture if the quantity used for the shot is large enough. I T It is the objectof this invention to render most of, the, explosives safer against firedamp and dry coal-dust than .they are with out the means mentioned herein. For example, the quantity of usual No. 1 dynamite (of seventy-five per cent. nitroglycerin and twenty-five per cent/of kieselguhr) of five grams regularly ignites a mixture of eight per cent. of firedamp, or a suitablequantity of benzin vapor,'which gives the same effect,)

whereas an explosive manufactu'red in accordance with this invention requlrcs a'quant-ity of more than five hundred grams'without losing a great percentage of its strength. so that the safety is as live is to five hundred. The object of the invention therefore is to render the work in fiery mines safer.

The examples given hereinafter.- recording, as they do, the results of actual experience, will confirm the above statements and the :success of the invention '1. Donarite of the following coiiipositionsz nitrate of ammonia, eighty' p er cent.: trinitrotoluol', twelve per ce11t.; floun'four p'er cent.; nitroglycerin, 35 per cent. i'collodion' cotton, 0.2 per ent. V

' Sa 7ety. Donarite alone,

'e'ighty seven grams; ninety-five per cent. of doifarite fiveper cent. ammonium, chlorid, one hun- 1 dred and twenty-five grams; ninety per cent. ofdonarite ten er cent. 'of an'nnomum I chlorid, two hundre and fifty grams; eightyslx per cent. ofdonarite g 5.5 per cent. of ammonium chlorid and 8.5 per cent. sodiunr nitrate, four hundred and twenty-five 'rams There was a reduction in the power displayed amounting to about eight per cent., while safety was enhanced five-fold.

2. Roburite of the following composition: nitrate of ammonia. 72.5 per cent. bi-nitrobenzol, twelve per cent; potassium nitrate,

ten per cent; sulfate of ammonium, fivcper cent; permanganate of potassium, 0.5 per cent.

Suflfg .Roburite alone, three hundred and twenty-five grams; roburite' with a'n1 monium chlorid substituted for ammonium Heat Duration ggs of flame Length Satan i (or flash) of flame in y in m 1/1000 1n centlumms thermal of a seemeters. units.

Explosive X alone... 868 0.403 54 250 95 per centnexplosive X +5 per cent. ammonium chlorid 781 0.262 45 400' 92 per ceu. explosive A +8 peicent. ammonium chlorid 745 0.210 40 500 and 11 J war sulfate, four hundred grams. At the same t me there occurred an increase in the power.

3. An explosive hereinafter termed X, of the followmgcomposition: nitroglycerin,

four percent; nitrate of ammonia, 75.5 per cent. potassium nitrate, 9.5per cent; coaldust, 0.5 per cent. flour, 10.5 per cent.

Safety.-'-Explosive X' alone, two hundred and fifty; grams; ninety-five per cent. of explosiveX7l+ five per cent. of ammonium chlorid,, foui hundred grams; ninety-two per cent. of. explosive elght er cent. of ammomum chlorid, five hundre grams.

The power displayed became reduced by This table is based upon the method of in vestigation of explosives published in Part III, Vol. 50, of the journal Zeitschm'ft f'zir BreggHtZttcn-und Saltnenwesea. .Hence it will be seen that by the addition of ammonium chlorid to the ex losive X already 'c0ntaining 9.5 per cent; 2) potassium. nitrate the number of thermal units, the time of flash, and the length of flame are reduced, While the safety from fire-damp is made to become double What it was before-that is to say, Without the separate addition of ammonium chlorid.

From the, following examples it will be made clear that also very favorable results will be obtained when chlorid of potassium and chlorid of sodium are directly added to the explosives. So, for instance, an explosive composed of 25.30 per cent. of nitroglycerin, 0.70 per cent. of collodion-cotton,

6.90 per cent. of gelatinized glycerin, (obtained by dissolving one part 0 gluein3.5

parts of glycerin,) 25.60 per cent. of sodium tention of four hundred cubic centimeters and has proved a safety of five hundred and fifty grams, while an' explosive consisting of 6 twenty-two per cent. of nitroglycerin, 0.6 per 4 trate of ammonia has produced in Trauzls lead block a distention of three hundred and forty-five cubic centimeters and has proved asafety of five hundred grams.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new therein, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A short-flame and quick-burning explosive containing a chlorid of an alkaline metal, the vapor of which will damp the flame produced onexplosion and enhance the safety of the explosive a ainst the ignition of firedamp and coalust-laden atmosphere, substantially as described.

2. A short-flame and quick-burning explosive c ntaining suflficient chlorid of a metal of the a1 calis to dam by the .vapor of said chlorid the flame o the ,explosive, and enhance the safety of the explosive against the ignition of fire-damp and coal-dust-laden atmosphere, substantially as described.

3. A short-flame and quick-burning explosive co'fttaining sufficient chlorid of sodium to damp the flame of the explosive, substan- 9 tially as and for the urposes set forth.

' CHRIST AN EMIL BICHEL.

l/Vitnesses:

ALEXANDER SPEOHT, E H. L. MUMMENHOFF. 

